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Daniel Keyes (August 9, 1927 – June 15, 2014) was an American writer best known as the author of the novel Flowers for Algernon. Keyes was given the Author Emeritus honor by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2000.
A month after graduation, Keyes joined publisher Martin Goodman's magazine company, Magazine Management. He eventually became an editor of their pulp magazine Marvel Science Stories ( Nov. 1950 – May 1952) after editor Robert O. Erisman, and began writing for the company's comic-book lines Atlas Comics, the 1950s precursors of Marvel Comics. After Goodman ceased publishing pulps in favor of paperback books and men's adventure magazines, Keyes became an associate editor of Atlas under editor-in-chief and art director Stan Lee. Circa 1952, Keyes was one of several staff writers, officially titled editors, who wrote for such horror fiction and science fiction comics as Journey into Unknown Worlds, for which Keyes wrote two stories with artist Basil Wolverton.
As Keyes recalled, Goodman offered him a job under Lee after Marvel Science Stories ceased publication:
One story idea Keyes wrote but did not submit to Lee was called "Brainstorm", the paragraph-long synopsis that would evolve into Flowers for Algernon. It begins: "The first guy in the test to raise the I.Q. from a low normal 90 to genius level ... He goes through the experience and then is thrown back to what was." Keyes recalled, "something told me it should be more than a comic book script."
From 1955 to 1956, Keyes wrote for EC Comics, including its titles Psychoanalysis, Shock Illustrated, and Confessions Illustrated, under both his own name and the pseudonyms Kris Daniels and A.D. Locke.
The inspiration for Flowers for Algernon came from Keyes's experiences as a teacher. When he was teaching at a high school, he taught both mentally gifted and challenged students. One particular experience with a boy in his mentally challenged class sparked the inspiration to begin writing Flowers for Algernon. He was wondering what would happen if it was possible for a person to gain intelligence.
Flowers for Algernon
The short story and subsequent novel, Flowers for Algernon, is written as progress reports of a mentally disabled man, Charlie, who undergoes experimental surgery and briefly becomes a genius before the effects tragically wear off. The story was initially published in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and the expanded novel in 1966. The novel has been adapted several times for other media, most prominently as the 1968 film Charly, starring Cliff Robertson (who won an Academy Award for Best Actor) and Claire Bloom. Keyes also won the Hugo Award in 1959 and the Nebula Award in 1966 for the story.
Later career
Keyes taught creative writing at Wayne State University, and in 1966 he became an English and creative writing professor at Ohio University, in Athens, Ohio, where he was honored as a professor emeritus in 2000.
Death
Keyes died at his home in Boca Raton on June 15, 2014, due to complications from pneumonia. His wife Aurea Georgina Vazquez, whom he married in 1952, had died on May 14, 2013. They had two daughters.
Awards
Won
Nominated
Bibliography
Novels
Short fiction
"Precedent" 1952 Marvel Science Fiction, Vol. 3, No. 6 "Robot Unwanted" Other Worlds, #19 "Something Borrowed" Fantastic Story, Vol. 4, #1 "The Trouble With Elmo" 1958 Galaxy, XVI, 4 "Flowers for Algernon" 1959 Expanded as a novel, 1966. "Crazy Maro" 1960 The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Vol. 18, 4 Paired with the essay "What Do Characters Cost?" "The Quality of Mercy" IF, Vol. X, 5 "A Jury of its Peers" 1963 Worlds of Tomorrow, Vol. 1, No. 3 "Spellbinder" 1967 North American Review, Vol. 4 No. 4 "Mama's Girl" 1993 Daniel Keyes Collected Stories
Collections
Non-fiction
External links
Categories: 1927 Births, 2014 Deaths, 20th-century American Male Writers, 20th-century American Novelists, 20th-century American Short Story Writers, 21st-century American Male Writers, 21st-century American Non-fiction Writers, 21st-century American Novelists, 21st-century American Short Story Writers, American Comics Writers, American Magazine Editors, American Male Non-fiction Writers, American Male Novelists, American Male Short Story Writers, American Military Personnel Of World War Ii, American Psychological Fiction Writers, 20th-century American Sailors, American Science Fiction Writers, Brooklyn College Alumni, Deaths From Pneumonia In Florida, Ec Comics, Hugo Award–winning Writers, Jewish American Novelists, Marvel Comics People, Military Personnel From New York City, Military Personnel From New York, Nebula Award Winners, Novelists From Michigan, Novelists From New York, Novelists From Ohio, Ohio University Faculty, The Magazine Of Fantasy & Science Fiction People, Wayne State University Faculty, Writers From Brooklyn, United States Merchant Mariners, United States Merchant Mariners Of World War Ii
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